Into the Moat – The Design

“Holy shit,” I thought to myself when I put this record in, “what the fuck is this?” It all got better from there. Every swirling, sporadic beat on this album is put perfectly into place, so that it’s practically impossible to groove to, but also impossible to turn off.

I think the best way to describe Into the Moat, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the band, is to put it like this. Imagine that you had the craziest grindcore you can think of (Gore Beyond Necropsy, for example), with it’s 30 second ideas all thrown into 5 minute songs. Now, top this off with lyrics about war, and what seems to me to be some sort of gladitorial combat, that are thrown atop this insanity in sporadic bursts, sometimes splitting words into syllables to make it fit the never constant rhythm. Take this technicality, add hardcore breakdowns and fantastic, crisp production (courtesy of the lads in the band and Erik Rutan). This, my friends, is Into the Moat.

This album is huge on so many levels. While taking root in traditional grind and hardcore, it merges them in a sporadic foray of incredible musicianship. Not once does they stop to give you time to breathe or think about the technicality, the brutality, the sheer genius of the song writing until the record is over and your looking at the CD player wondering what the hell just hit you.

What makes this all more impressive is that this is really a debut album from a very young band. Their first incarnation was a formation in 2001 where the drummer wrote all the music. They were signed to Lovelost Records in 2003, but they only produced an EP. So for a first time full-length, they’ve produced a monster of a record.

If you’re at all into technical music, buy this record. You might not listen to it that often, but you will certainly be blown away by what you hear, and anyone who is a fan of genre progression, originality and sheer talent should get their hands on this.